Board games have been a popular social activity for centuries. Board games are attractive, in part, because they provide a rich play experience, offering the players a visually complex, 3-d experience, with which the players physically interact. Also, board games provide players with a wide range of decisions to be made and variables to be considered before a player makes a decision or a move. Additionally, board games have an attractive social aspect, enabling a group of players to have face-to-face interactions, conversations, etc., while game play is ongoing.
Over the last 30 years, electronic video games have presented a challenge to the continuing popularity of board games. Video games are attractive and popular, in part, because video games streamline and simplify game play. Instead of having to memorize a complex set of rules (or consult a rule book during game play) a video gamer simply performs some action in the electronic gaming environment (e.g., move there, manipulate that object, shoot that monster, etc.) In video games, the complex tracking and adjustment of the state of the player's piece, avatar, etc., with respect to other those of other players, or other elements of the game, is handled by the computer.
It would be advantageous to have a system that incorporates the best aspects of both video game play and board games.